“That’s where the chess game has changed. In the past you’d see much more positive things about the leader,” he said.

“It’s become very – I wouldn’t say as bad as American-style politics – but it’s become much less about the Liberal ‘Red Book,’ statements of intent, and much more about this character assassination.”

And Chapman says the best so far has been one of those: The Interview ad from the Conservatives, which he says was “very effective at getting Canadians to think through: was this guy [Justin Trudeau] really up to the task or just looks good?”

Jonathan Rose, an Associate Professor of political science at Queen’s University, says he doesn’t think it’s been overly negative so far, but expects that could happen as election day approaches.

“Toward the end of the campaign we could see much sharper ads,” he said, but also added “as you get to the end of the campaign it becomes less about persuading and more about motivating your supporters.”

He says the big innovative shift he’s noticed this election has been parties responding to each other’s criticisms.

“Usually that’s a big no-no,” he said. “They’re becoming a little more sophisticated in recognizing that voters are probably being inundated regularly with ads and in order to get their attention need to try something new.”

While that goes with a campaign theme of ‘doing things differently’, it also speaks to the level to which the “Just Not Ready” messaging may have penetrated.

“The message is so embedded that it probably bears responding to. Perhaps they’ve learned the lesson from previous campaigns with Ignatieff and Dion that if you don’t respond, the argument stays out there.”

Chapman has noticed a similar trend with the Conservatives putting out a large amount of ads on different topics.

“Just shows you how deep the Conservatives’ pockets are that every time either Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau cough up a hairball, they can create an ad,” he said.

He also gives credit to one of the more positive ones: the “I’m Ready” NDP ad, where the Conservative message on Trudeau is used as an opening for Tom Mulcair to stake out ground showing he’s ready to lead the country.

Chapman says the problem, positive or negative, is “all of them lack a certainty of authenticity,” adding that’s something the audience wants out of the politicians they otherwise don’t trust.

“Trudeau looks like he’s reading a drama script in the escalator ad. ‘I’m not perfect’ [from a Harper ad] doesn’t seem to be resonating with people. None of that seems to be really resonating with people. It’s one of the strangest elections I’ve followed.”

With weeks to go, it’s widely expected that ads will flood the airwaves, although Rose says he’s interested in seeing if the campaign length will affect ad effectiveness.

He noted that the effect ads have on voters is “weeks at most,” meaning that in a long election, parties have to balance a fine line with repetition, which can either breed familiarity or occur so often people will forget the message.

“Advertising becomes less effective because it’s useful as an adjunct to the leader’s tour and the press they’re getting. As the campaign lengthens, it fades into the background a little bit.”